Arra
Six Months.
It had been six months since she last had that nightmare. She did not remember her dreams since, but she hardly remembered much at the start. The name “Arra” on her wrist served as a usable name. The rest would be picked up in flits of recognition, muscle memory, or conversation.
For Six Months, she learned, scraped back what few pieces of herself she could grasp, and hid. The woman she had called “Orros”, the woman who wore her face, the woman who wore a look of disgust and hatred as she pursued and ripped the life from her own body, was still out there. While she hid, scared, that woman was undoubtedly reveling in her victory. That injury, that injustice stood for long enough. With any luck, Orros thought her well, and truly dead. Now, it was her time to corner her, and snuff the light out of her. Arra would end this, on her terms.
It began with inquiries: casual questions and conversations. There was little usable information about her dream: a party in some city that was hardly memorable to bystanders. Instead, she found a lead on a woman fitting her description. Whether it was her target, or her own footsteps, the path they led her down was clear.
There were answers in Ten-Towns, and she would chase them down to the bitter end.
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Would you pronounce it so-corro, or soc-orro? Or some other way?
My friend, I'm Chinese. Don't ask me.
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Parable of the Ascetic
Once, there was an ascetic, a wanderer who left a life of comfort in pursuit of an enlightened life. They found a monastery that promised a path towards inner peace and serenity, and plead to the Master for a chance to learn under them. The Master agreed, and the ascetic became a dutiful student of their ways. Years passed, and the ascetic grew talented, but unstable. As they sought and practiced peace, they found none within themselves. Their temper and patience faltered, and they begged the Master to teach them what they were missing. The Master was wary, but seemed to relent. The student claimed to want peace, a means to still their soul, but the Master had seen the dark impulses within the student.
They did not want peace, but an absence of the self. They wanted oblivion, and the Master would grant that.
The Master brought forth a sword, the blade of mortal tears, a gleaming shining scimitar, and they met. The student had bathed and cleansed themselves, meditated and fasted for days in preparation, but when the blade cleaved their flesh, the result was as the Master feared.
Bifurcated, two disciples lay on the temple floor. Their flesh and spirit torn in two equal chunks, they rose, blinking and weary, to meet the other.
Each saw, in that moment, the thing they hated most in this life. The one thing they could not abide existing. Every mistake and failure reflected in form and posture on the other side of the hall.
In an instant, one lay dead on the floor, in a heap. The other, realizing what they had done, fled, and was never seen again. Eventually, the fallen rose, having forgotten all but the mortal sin of their pair, and answered in kind.
Again, and again this played out. No kindness was granted, no mercy given. Two halves, destined to destroy the other, forgetting all but their fear and loathing. A single soul, reduced to the worst impulses they had failed to control.
The ascetic desperately wanted a peace they were unable to attain, and for their failure, they would never know peace again.
This is not a parable Arra knows. She had woken up some months ago, her only real memory of a party where someone wearing her face approached her and cut her down in cold blood. She remembered the look on her face worst of all: a mix of satisfaction and utter, desperate fear.
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So I recently combed through all 33 pages of Shen Wei/Zhao Yunlan content on AO3, please have a list of my personal faves:
Temporary amnesia, Zhao Yunlan edition:
fall in love for the night – OneshotPrincess
i don't remember us falling in love - orro
Temporary amnesia (with or without physical de-ageing), Shen Wei edition:
second nature – orro
Restart, Renew - ancient_moonshine
Zhao Yunlan vs his insecurities:
Breaking Point - MusicalLuna, nightwalker
written - sasamelons
Shen Wei vs his insecurities:
Now that you’ve got your kiss, I want mine too – Skeptical_Lynx
Til Death Do Us Part - ezraelis
Blooming Love - ssp_amax
Paper Planes and Porcelain - citys127
Consent - frith_in_thorns
Switching things up a little, plus some kinks:
ten thousand faces – plingo_kat
riveting reflection - orro
The Charm Of Chastity - PaddlesPetwixtPuddles
Dry Spell - MusicalLuna
what the weave tells you - Elenothar
Shen Wei whump:
Soup Is the Highest Expression of Love... but So Is a Venus Hand Trap In the Right Circumstances - eirenical
beyond the end of the story - eirenical
Endurance Under Ice - yue_ix
flew like a moth to you - mimosaeyes
In the Sun - Trobadora
Overpowered - galaxysoup
However deep the Lake - Elenothar
Treaty-Bound - Elenothar
Different identity reveal or other timeline fuckery:
Yearning – OneshotPrincess
Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This - shaenanigans
perception - synonemous
reverse - OneshotPrincess
Sweet fluff or humour:
Here With You It’s Perfect – tehfanglyfish
Where Light Shines Above the Abyss - BlackwaterVial
10/10 WOULD MARRY - aubreyli
Collared - nightwalker
A Thousand Little Things – nightwalker
The Song You Gave Me - rlyqueer
Only the plum trees - marycrawford
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